Summer Plans a Chore for Many Families

When I consider all the items to check off the list to plan a summer vacation, it is daunting. So many questions and details! Do I stop the newspapers and mail or have someone pick it up? Do I let the yard grow or have someone else mow it? What about watering the flowers and plants? We can’t take our 2 big dogs, so do we board them, have someone come by and feed them, ask a relative to keep them? Would it be better to have someone house sit to handle all this or rely on a good neighbor? What about the perishable food we have, keep or toss or give it away? The special arrangements might not work out as planned and we could come home to a real mess. What about the expense of the trip? Are we sure we have budgeted the right amount?

The questions on making plans for the summer would be very different for me if I had been depending on the free and reduced lunch program and the breakfast program at school for my kids to eat.

I probably would not be stressing over the details of a paid vacation trip to a nice location with my family. I would be looking at the upcoming months of June and July with real dread, because I may have limited or no easy options to provide a meal, let alone 2 meals for kids who will probably be at home all day. Who will I get to watch my kids when I need to go to work? The neighbor, a relative? I can’t afford to pay someone. Are they old enough to stay by themselves yet? Can I trust them? I can’t wait for August so they can go back to school, but then the school fees can really push us further behind.

The summer food programs that more and more schools are beginning to offer can be a significant stress reliever to many families.

A meal is provided and some schools have implemented some programming along with it. Transportation can be a real barrier for the child to get to the food. The coordinated effort between Muncie community centers is making headway by getting kids transported to and from South Side Middle School. Other schools in several counties are coming up with versions of their own to address the stark reality of hunger for thousands of kids in each county we serve. We believe that the feeding program belongs in the schools and getting partners around the table who can assist with a piece of the action is the key. These summer feeding program food costs are reimbursed by the Indiana Department of Education to the schools if they register in the program.

There have been many attempts over the years to reach the kids who need this assistance, but it usually results in a few hundred kids when the need is in the thousands. We need to discuss ways to coordinate transportation and programming that will get the kids to the food and provide a meaningful, structured outlet when options at home are few to non-existent.

It makes me think about how I am going to care for my lawn while I’m away is nonsense.

 

Written by Tim Kean

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